Bijendra Kumar, the father of Sujeet, still remembers the moment – which was around 10 years ago - when he had told other villagers that he is sending his son to a school in Rajasthan so he could study and become an Army officer. At that time, most of them laughed and said that “as a sanitization worker he is thinking too big”
On Saturday, Kumar grinned as he watched his 21-year-old son, Sujeet, graduate from Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun and became the first Army officer from his village of Basila.
Kumar told a media organization in a telephonic interview, “I held a broom, but my son will protect the country with his guns.”
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The family huddled around the television to watch the Passing Out Parade as the family members of the Gentleman Cadets (CGs) were not allowed to be present during the ceremony due to Covid-19.
Sujeet’s father is a sanitization worker and her mother works as an Asha worker.
Sujeet expressed his feeling and said, “I would have loved to see the pride on my parent’s face.”
Sujeet would be posted as Army Ordnance Corps and he hopes that his achievement will motivate more youngsters in his village to don the olive green uniform. Kumar said that he had already inspired his siblings. All his siblings are now preparing for competitive exams. Kumar has taken his other two children to Varanasi in hope that they access to better education facilities.
Kumar said, “My wife lives alone in the village, as she has to look after the health of people in that area. We do visit her once in a while but we have decided that we will do everything in our power to help our kids get the career they want.”
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After seeing his elder son becoming successful, now Kumar is confident that his family’s dreams will come true. He said, “I know all my children will achieve what they aspire to one day. Challenges can only make people stronger. My elder daughter finished school two years ago but I couldn’t arrange money for medical coaching so she is studying on her own for MBBS. My younger daughter wants to become an IAS officer while my younger son wants to get into IIT.”